[Got OS/2? Got GammaTech Utilities?  No?  Good luck... (click here)]

the Beta File- by Ryan Dill


Welcome back to the Beta File, your source for the latest breaking news in OS/2 beta development. Every month we scour the OS/2 world to bring you interesting news of OS/2 software in development. If you have a product that you're sure is going to be the next killer app, or you want a little free exposure for your beta test drop us a note!

 *  *  *

Computer Data Strategies, Inc., best known as the makers of BackAgain/2, recently let us know about a new product of theirs currently in beta: MBox, a commercial 32-bit cross-platform e-mail server. The OS/2 version will take full advantage of OS/2's multithreading and prioritizing, allow for easy installation (even via CID), and have a GUI which makes setup and maintenance a breeze. (After the OS/2 version is released, versions for Windows NT and Windows 95 will follow.)

CDS feels that MBox will be useful not only to the corporate user, but to the SOHO user as well -- with its mail exchanger option, MBox allows even systems without a permanent Internet connection to reap the benefits of their own e-mail servers. Including support for mailing lists, and compatible with all major OS/2 e-mailers, MBox promises to be a solid server which performs well even on low-end 486 systems.

A closed beta cycle has been going on for two months now, and CDS hopes to have the product ready for commercial release by the second quarter of 1997 (price to be announced at that time). Brad Benson, lead developer on the project, had this to say about MBox:

MBox for OS/2 continues CDS' strategy of providing high-quality commercial applications for corporate IS departments utilizing OS/2. Unlike many other POP3 and SMTP offerings for OS/2, MBox is a commercial-grade product with commercial-grade support. Support will be available via web, e-mail, phone, fax, and BBS. Additionally, 24x7 support will be available for those customers that require it.
 *  *  *

Turning from e-mail maintenance to home maintenance, Dennis Cafi is in the midst of developing Home Automation System/2 (Home/2 for short), a program which will allow you to control your X10 CP290 Home Control Interface Unit from your OS/2 system.

For those who don't know, the CP290 is a hardware gizmo which allows you to control various appliances in your home automatically, from your computer -- turning lights on/off at certain times, set the TV to turn off at 1AM just in case you fall asleep, etc. Not only can this save energy by making sure you don't leave appliances on by mistake, but it also provides a security feature when you're away; it appears that someone's home, which may scare off potential burglars. Control software for the CP290 is available for the Windows, Macintosh and Linux, so Dennis is making sure that OS/2 users don't get left out. (More info on the CP290 can be found on the web.)

The beta cycle has just started, so if you have an X10 CP290 and want to join in, just download the file from Hobbes (when Hobbes reorganizes it'll move to here) or the OS/2 Supersite and try it out, sending any comments to Dennis.

Home/2 is expected to be out of beta somewhere between May and June of '97, will be shareware, and will probably carry a US$15 price tag.

 *  *  *

The people at TrueSpectra Inc., who brought you the powerful graphics creation/manipulation program Photo>Graphics, are now working on the beta of the PRO version of Photo>Graphics v2.0. The PRO version of the software will add new features like TWAIN scanning, the ability to automate repetitive tasks with REXX, more image effects, a much larger clipart/image library, Postscript output, and more.

TrueSpectra Photo>Graphics PRO is an advanced graphics creation and manipulation application designed for easy creation of high quality, high resolution, professional images... Even a novice becomes enabled to create stunning graphics combining digital images, sharp graphics effects, vector drawings and text.
Private testing of Photo>Graphics PRO has been ongoing for about two months, and TrueSpectra has now decided to implement a 100-participant public beta. If you'd like to participate, sign up at TrueSpectra's web site; beta testers will continue to be accepted until the limit is reached. The full commercial product is expected to be available for purchase by the end of April, at which time a downloadable demo will be available from TrueSpectra's web site. Photo>Graphics PRO is expected to sell at $249.95, although existing users of Photo>Graphics can upgrade for only $99.95. (Note that these prices are SRP -- dealers will likely sell for less.)

In the words of TrueSpectra's Terry Hamilton, "TrueSpectra will continue to support OS/2 as an ideal platform for high power graphics applications." Good to hear.

 *  *  *

Also this month, there is news of a new Java application just entering the early beta stages. Jesse Sightler, maintainer of OS/2 Land, is busy working on something that anyone who has a large list of HTML links will appreciate -- Java ALiVe!.

Java ALiVe! is an application which will take an HTML page, and basically check each of the http:// links to make sure it exists. Start ALiVe! running and go get a snack; when it's done, it pops up a window telling you which links (if any) couldn't be accessed. This way, if a web page has moved to a different address, if its site is down, or if it's simply gone altogether, you'll know. ALiVe! saves you the long and boring effort of checking each of the links manually, which, if you have a lot of sites catalogued, could take hours. ALiVe! also has the ability to save failed URLs in a file so you can deal with them at your leisure.

Since it parses a normal file for http:// links, it should also work just as well on your Netscape bookmarks file (and possibly similar files, like WebExplorer's EXPLORE.INI), to let you know which of your bookmarks are invalid.

For anyone who wants to download ALiVe! and try it out, its home is at http://www3.pair.com/jsight/Java/, where the latest code can always be found. If you have questions, you can join the ALiVe! mailing list; instructions for doing so are also at the above page.


Ryan Dill is a student in Computer Science at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS and copy editor for OS/2 e-Zine!. He is reported to be relieved that, with the advent of Warp 4, talking to your computer is no longer considered a sign of mental instability.

[Index]  [® Previous] - [Feedback] - [Next ¯]

[Our Sponsor: Mt. Baker Software - Developers of Money Tree, an OS/2 financial package.]


This page is maintained by Falcon Networking. We welcome your suggestions.

Copyright © 1997 - Falcon Networking